The LivingZs Weekend

This was a very eventful and wonderful weekend. We did a lot of stuff and for once, I feel productive at the end of a long weekend. For starters, you saw the fish tank that we set up. Then on Saturday we went to McDougal's Apple Junction for the 3rd straight year. It is a bit of a trek from our house, but I really like the farm. We know what to expect when we get there, it has never been too crowded to relax, they have fantastic apple mini-donuts, and we get to see the kids grow by measuring against the scarecrow each year. This year we were once again joined by Tammy and Eric, plus Nana joined us for the fun!

On Sunday, it was a beautiful day. We spent most of it outside doing yard work. Tyler took out all the bushes in our yard to make way for my patio project next spring. We cleared out the garage a bit and we carved our pumpkins. The kids had fun. Zander wasn't too thrilled about getting his hands messy, but he helped design his pumpkin. Zoey designed her pumpkin all by herself--it is an alien pumpkin (lots of eyes!). Tyler cleaned our pumpkin out and I designed and cut it. It was oprignally going say The Livingstons, but that is a long name. I got bored about half way through and changed it to say The LivingZs, in honor of the two little terrors that live in our house!

Enjoy the pictures. . .

Zoey told us this weekend that she is going to be on stage some day. I kind of believe that!

Zander's favorite part of the pumpkin experience was watching the slimy seeds slip from daddy's and Zoey's hands.

Uncle and Eric and Zoey on the hayride.

Zoey wanted to find her own pumpkin this year.

About 3 feet tall (with the hat)!

3 and 1/2 feet--too tall, if you ask me!

"Just Plasticing for Halloween"

For Halloween this year, Zoey really really wants to be a witch. So we got her costume a little over a week ago. She is happy because it is what she wants, I am happy because she picked just the basic witch items. Tonight as we were trying to decide what Zander was going to be, Zoey wanted to "plastic" trick-or-treating.

I remembered that I got the kids this pirate costume last year for playing dress up and it almost fits him perfectly. So, I think he will be a pirate. He seems to like the costume and he is good at saying Argh!

In other news, Tyler acquired a 25 gallon fish tank from his school and it now graces our family room. Zoey's first reaction when I showed her the tank was, "You know I still really want a puppy!" She and Zander are however having fun with the tank--although we can't get actual fish for another week. We need to wait for the water to be just right.

Zoey has been working around the house for commission. She is saving her money up to buy things like toys for her dog and a doll. But today she wanted to buy something for the fish tank. This is what she picked. It is the first thing that she has spent her own money on. She was very proud to hand money over to the cashier at Pets-Mart.


Zoey has also been telling a lot of jokes. The funny thing about her joke telling is like most four year olds, the punchlines don't make sense and are very loud! And just to make it interesting, I taught her how to make her chin into a puppet.

Zander--I love this age!

Bonfire 2009

Wow! I think this is close to a record for me: the longest I have gone without updating the blog? It has been another busy start to the school year and as always it takes us time to adjust to the "new normal." Knock on wood, the kids have been relatively helathy this season. At school, I have 12 kids in my literacy class and I have never had all of them present at the same time--so there is definitely some illnesses floating out there.

Tonight we went to our 4th annual daycare bonfire. Complete with food, friends, and tractor rides. Zander was not feeling his bravest, so he declined. Zoey, however, was brave and went for a few rides.


Here is a picture of Zander helping daddy out with the yard work. Notice his work gloves--he wanted to be just like daddy!